The continuing impact of the Six-Day War, problems of establishing Jewish identity, the results of massive social change, the effect of government funding, and the relationship with the United Ways are the five major developments affecting communal workers in the near future said Sidney Z. Vincent, executive director of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland. Vincent spoke on the emerging agenda for Jewish communal life at the opening session last night of the four-day National Conference of Jewish Communal Service – the first ever held in Canada.
To over 700 delegates, professionals in the field of Jewish community services, he said: “Our record entitles us to approach the Jewish agenda of the ’70’s with the security that comes from being in charge of an operation that has performed well, but with the anxiety and the concern and the vigilance of those in charge of an operation in continuing peril.” Vincent said Jewish history is a record of “tensions” to integrate into the general life of the community while guarding the distinctiveness of Jewish life.
“Our stubborness in being ourselves, on the one hand,” he said, “and global in our interests on the other, lies close to the heart of both Jewish creativity and Jewish tragedy.” The task of the community during the peak of mass immigration from Europe was to make “Americans out of Jews.” Today, he said, the task is turned inwards – to make “Jews out of Americans.” One item on the agenda in community life is the exploration of the “partnership” between Jews living in Israel and in the diaspora.
“We properly claim that we need each other, but we do not know with any real confidence what that means; what the limits are of our dependence on one another; what areas of our separate lives we should not enter; what roles we can play most effectively in building a world Jewish life in which both Israel and the diaspora are integral parts.” Among the problems facing the Jewish community is cultural identity, but, he said, “the tough fact is that identification demands involvement and, except in fundraising, we have not yet learned how to involve enough of our constituency.”
Another issue Vincent cited was the Jewish community’s relationship with the United Ways – the umbrella welfare organizations existing in every major city. He said the primary responsibility for Jewish agencies is to look after the needs of Jewish people, but that “preferential treatment” for the underprivileged is also the responsibility of all men and deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. “If we are to retain our invaluable partnership with the United Ways it will be because we make good our claims that we are deeply interested in the entire community’s welfare,” he added.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
